Getting through it all
by Elliewelly1
Summary: SEQUEL TO 'Obvious'. Set three years in the future, everything is absolutely perfect- well, Leopards Den type perfect- but then in typical Leopards Den style, drama unfolds... will Danice make it through it?
1. Interrupted

_**A/N: Hey, this is the obvious sequel. This one is fairly low-priority because Wherever you are I'll be right beside you is my favourite to write, but I have so many ideas I need to start them before people start losing interest in reading fics and WAH, like most are now…sad times. : ( ahh well, at least I still have some brill reviewers (Y) You guys rock!**_

**Alice's POV - Three years later (Yeah, quite a time jump) - P.s Danny and Alice have been married for two and a half years in this, teehee.**

I awoke to the beautiful smell of Danny, with his arms enveloping me in a hug and pulling me tight. His arms were wrapped around my waist and my own were wrapped around his neck. Slowly, I pushed my eyes opened and was surprised to find Danny's gentle green eyes staring back at me. Automatically, a smile swept on my lips and my heart thudded erratically- God, I was still so in love with Danny I felt I was going to burst! Danny grinned back at me, too.

"Morning gorgeous." He greeted me in his northern accent, shivers tickled down my spine as he spoke.

"Hello handsome." I replied, and he laughed gently. Then he pulled me closer to him, my own eyes closed and I felt the touch of his lips upon mine. My heart literally exploded. Danny's lips became more urgent on my own and I felt my heartbeat pound in my ears, Danny pulled me on top of him and-

"MUM! DAD! ALEX IS- Oh!" Charlotte burst into the room with her nearly three-year-old brother Alex attached to her sleeve. Me and Danny literally leapt apart to opposite sides of the bed. Charlotte's eyes were a little wide. She was fourteen now, and fully capable of understanding what me and Danny might've just done if she hadn't barged into the room.

"Charlotte!" I said breathlessly, trying to keep my voice casual but failing, "What… What is it?" I asked, and then a moment later realised what it was. Charlotte's whole left side of her leg was covered in vomit, and little Alex standing next to her was looking oddly green.

"Okay first- learn to lock the door?" She said in a sarcastic attitude I'd grown accustomed to. I glanced at Danny; I thought we had! "Second; What the _hell _do you mean what's wrong? And third, I am not a babysitter! I have plenty things to do! I will not sit around and watch my little brother who enjoys puking on me when you two lay here…" She shuddered, "Eww." I blushed lightly, but tried to focus on Alex more so I wouldn't.

I rolled my eyes, "Right thanks for the great help Charlie, you can go clean up now." I held out my arms, "C'mere little man." I soothed to Alex and he let go of Charlotte's hand and half-ran to my arms, I scooped him up and plopped him inbetween me and Danny. I heard Charlotte storm out and close the door- she really was a typical teenager!

"So little guy, don't feel too well huh?" Danny asked him softly, and Alex shook his head. I rest a hand on his forehead. He was quite hot.

"He's a little bit hot," I told Danny, "Maybe he caught a bug at nursery. Apparently there's a sick bug going around."

Danny nodded, "Probably." He agreed, and then ruffled Alex's dark brown hair, "Don't worry, you'll be better soon. Just lie down, maybe try and get some sleep, and I'll get some medicine and some water from Nomsa. Alright?" Danny asked Alex softly, and again Alex nodded, his green eyes on Danny. Danny smiled to himself, and carefully climbed out the bed, making sure it didn't jostle Alex too much so he wasn't sick again. Danny looked up at me, "You'll be okay with him for a bit won't you?"

Danny was so overprotective over Alex it was unreal. I laughed, "What do you take me for Danny?" I teased, and he blushed slightly.

"Sorry, right, yeah." He mumbled, "You know how I… I'll just go now…"

I smiled to myself as Danny shuffled out the door. I turned to Alex to tell him to try and get some sleep, It always helped when you were ill, but Alex was already sparko on Danny's pillow, snoring lightly. I laughed in disbelief, usually it took an age to get Alex to go to bed! Sunlight creeped through the curtains and shone brightly on his little face, his face twitched a little in irritation and I leaned back to arrange the curtains so that they were protecting him from the light. For a while I watched my beautiful son lay sleeping peacefully, and then Danny re-appeared with some water and kids medicine. He grinned when he saw Alex.

"World record," I said quietly as Danny placed the water and medicine on the side, "Took him one minute- surely it's got to be some kind of miracle, right?"

Danny laughed softly, "Yeah, must be." He agreed. Then he stared fondly at Alex's face. I reached over and squeezed his hand.

"You're an amazing father, you know that Danny?"

Danny smiled, "And you're just the best at everything." He told me, giving my hand a squeeze in return. Quickly, I leaned over Alex and gave Danny a gentle kiss. I might not spend as much alone time with him as I'd like, but I'd rather have a family with him than none at all.


	2. Good news

_**Alice's POV**_

Alex isn't ill- just turns out he helped himself to Charlotte's cheese toasty when she wasn't looking. He's allergic to cheese you see, and projectile vomits and comes up in all sorts after eating it. We only know this because ten minutes later he started coming up in huge rashes and projectile vomiting… not a lovely sight, I assure you, but for my son I'd do anything… and after a couple hours he was fine again. Alex is too young to understand he shouldn't eat cheese, so we can't exactly blame him, though he shouldn't have helped himself to Charlotte's food when she wasn't looking, of course.

Charlotte feels guilty, I would too if I were her- even though it's not her fault at all. Though she might complain about how annoying he is, how much she can hate him sometimes, how much she wishes he'd just leave her alone, I know she loves him with all her heart. Charlotte just prefers to keep her feelings secret now, and I think it's just her age, really. Nothing to be worried about. Danny said Rosie had been the same at that age, too.

So here we are, all gathered at the table, eating dinner- cheese free for Alex- and suddenly, the phone rings. "I'll get it!" Danny cried, and I raised an eyebrow at him, he seemed as if he knew who was going to be ringing. He jumped out of his seat so eagerly he nearly knocked his plate to the ground.

I laughed, "Eager much?" He smiled slightly and then hurried off to the study to answer the phone. We all laughed at Danny's eagerness.

"What is Dad happy about?" Alex asked, his voice still had a slight cute lisp to it, and he sat staring at me with his green eyes, his spoon clasped in his right hand and the food spilled from it spilled from the spoon to his lap- Alex was rather clumsy. I grabbed a tissue and started mopping him up. Inside, I heard Danny cry out happily, and laughed to myself. What could possibly make him that happy?

"I don't know honey." I finally answered Alex after mopping him up, "I'm sure Dad will tell you."

Alex smiled to himself at this news and tucked into his food again. Caroline watched him affectionately and Dupe smiled at Caroline, Caroline and Dupe were so in love. I wondered what me and Danny would be like at that age- would Danny still love me that much? I would undeniably still be in love with him, obviously. I'd never stop loving Danny.

Danny came rushing out onto the veranda, his eyes were alight, he was breathless and he had a gigantic smile fixed to his face. I caught his eye and he exclaimed, "Evan's coming back!"

Evan had come to visit us sometimes, on his breaks from college etc. He'd had to stay over in England though, to look after his dad. His dad was just getting worse lately. Olivia flew out to England frequently, to help look after their dad, too.

"What- you mean he's visiting or-" I started to ask but Danny cut across me.

"Well, yeah, but he's going to stay a lot longer this time 'cause Olivia is out there and he's finished college finally!" Danny cried, grinning like a fool. I grinned to.

"That's great Danny!" I said, and I saw Caroline smile to herself- She really did miss her grandson. Of course, she missed Olivia too, but hardly anyone saw Evan. This was the greatest piece of news in a while!

"When's he coming over?" Caroline asked Danny.

"He's coming over in two days," Danny answered her with another smile, and then he walked over to pick Alex up. Alex immediately threw his fork down onto his plate and leapt eagerly into Danny's arms.

"Danny! He was eating." I nagged, but laughed. The pair were inseparable.

Danny grinned and squeezed Alex's little button nose playfully, "Well you can eat after can't you little man?" He asked Alex, and Alex answered him with a grin and a nod. Danny smiled at me smugly, "See?" He said, and I stuck my tongue out at him. Alex made Danny look at him for more attention and I realised how much of a great dad Danny Trevanion was. I looked down at my plate of food.

"Alice?" I heard Dupe say and looked up at him, "You alright?"

I frowned, "Of course I am." I half-lied.

"Bet you can't wait to see your big brother, eh?" I heard Danny say behind me, speaking to Alex. Alex really doted to Evan, too. Danny was Alex's constant role model, Alex was always trying to follow him around. When Evan was here, Alex was the same with him. Of course, he loved Charlotte and Olivia too, but they mostly spent their time locked up in their rooms on the phone and stuff. Plus, Olivia was at England a lot and when she was over here she wanted to spend time with her boyfriend Thabo. "Right, c'mon you better continue eating again before your mum starts nagging again."

My mouth popped open and I turned to look at Danny, "I do not nag!" I cried, and Danny smiled, then plopped Alex back into his chair.

"Sure you don't." Danny said and grinned, I scowled at him.

"Name one time!"

Danny laughed, "One? Alice I could name at least a million!"

I raised my eyebrows, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." Danny nodded.

I smiled innocently, "Well then, name the times!"

Danny's smile faltered slightly and then he said, "We don't have long enough."

"I didn't think so." I said smugly, and started eating again. I felt Danny lean over to me.

"Even if you did nag, I'd love you anyways." He whispered, making me blush, and I heard Dupe distract everyone else saying 'So, glad Evan's coming back eh?'. I turned to Danny and grinned. I felt so proud he was mine.

"Yeah? But I'd still love you more." I whispered back, and he shook his head in argument and I grinned, "It's true!" I said, and leaned over and kissed him gently.

"Alright Alright! We get the picture!" I was surprised to find it wasn't Dupe who'd made this comment- but Charlotte. Me and Danny pulled away and I raised my eyebrows at Charlotte. She blushed slightly, and started eating again.

I felt Danny's warm hand take mine, and send tingles down my spine. I looked at him lovingly, and he looked back, grinning. Everyone else was too distracted by Dupe now to notice, and I was grateful to Dupe. He knew the scarce time me and Danny had together lately. I caught Dupe's eye, and he winked at me, I grinned in return, then looked back at Danny, my soul mate, my one true love, my everything.

Danny was all I really needed.


	3. Keeping secrets, Uncovering others!

_**Alice's POV**_

**A/N: Messed about with Evans age a bit because Wild At Heart mucked their ages up anyway with the whole Olivia being sixteen, when I swear she was like eleven when she left it in series three? So in this Evan is twenty, haha yeah it's just a **_**slight**_** change ;) I've also messed about with Olivia's age, she's eighteen in this(:**

The next day came and went, followed by the next. Danny sat, fidgeting like mad, staring at the clock impatiently. Evan wasn't due to land at the airport until four this afternoon, me and Danny were to pick him up, yet he'd been sitting there since ten this morning, simply watching the clock. Nor me, Charlotte, or Dupe could get his attention- Not even _Alex _could get it!

So I went about doing the chores on my own that Danny seemed to have forgotten about. But I understood why he would. If Charlotte had been living back in England these past few years and was coming back for a bit I would be over the moon, really. I was interrupted by Danny who suddenly skidded into the surgery. I jumped and dropped the papers I'd been sorting, then laughed.

"Where's the fire?" I asked jokingly, then realised what I said when Danny grimaced. I looked down at the ground, "Sorry." I said smally. Even though I was with Danny now, I still knew he loved his late wife, Sarah. It made me feel insecure sometimes, that maybe I wasn't living up to what Sarah had been, and sometimes I felt annoyed that Danny would still be in love with Sarah when I'd given him _me. _But I knew that was just plain selfish, and of course he still loved Sarah, but he loved me, too.

Danny's arms suddenly wrapped around my waist, "I came here to tell you some good news!" He said into my ear. I smiled and turned around to look at him properly. Danny's green eyes were alight with excitement and he had a kind of grin stuck to his face that made him look simple. Yet my heart still skipped a beat at the sight of his face. I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"And what would that be?" I asked curiously. More good news than the fact that Evan was coming back to visit?

"Well, you know Evan's coming back?"

I rolled my eyes, "Is that what the good news is? Because Danny, I'm not _that _stupid." I replied.

Danny's eyes widened a little, "You're not stupid, why would you think that?" He asked me, temporarily distracted. But I was still curious as to why he was telling me Evan was coming back… again.

"Just get on with it Danny, why're you telling me Evan's coming back? I already know, and I _do _sort-of have these papers to deal with!" I said impatiently.

Danny shook his head, "No, that's not the news you see." It wasn't? Danny stopped, making a tension moment. He knew how curious I got about these things. He _knew _how much I hated it when he cut his sentences short! I swear, he does it on purpose sometimes!

"And what _is _the news?" I asked eagerly, and Danny laughed.

"Well, you know he has his girlfriend, Sam?" I nodded. Sam and Evan had been together for about two years now. We'd met Sam once, he'd brought her over (only because we'd invited her, he didn't know whether to ask her or not), and she seemed like a pretty nice girl. We'd got along quite well, actually, and she'd really taken to Charlotte. Doted on her.

"Please Danny, stop doing the whole suspense thing you know I hate!" I pleaded, and he laughed again, his grip on me becoming tighter as he pulled me in to kiss me.

Once we pulled away he said, "Patience Mrs Trevanion!" Then he grinned, "_Anyway, _he said he's bringing her over again. Says there's something really important he's got to tell us!" He said eagerly.

I raised my eyebrows, "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah. What do you think it'd be?" He asked.

I shrugged, "My idea of important is something like them getting engaged or…" I let my voice trail off, I was going to say _'her being pregnant'. _But I just couldn't say it. I looked down at the ground for a moment and I know Danny had picked up on this- the fact that I hadn't finished my sentence and then looked down at the ground. I looked back up at him quickly, trying to cover, "But-my-idea-of-important-is-probably-different-to-his-idea-cause you-know-different ages." I said so quickly that the words mashed together. Danny raised an eyebrow.

"What's up with you?" He asked seriously, and I forced myself to compose my face to sheer surprise.

"Nothing!" I lied, but my voice came out too high and too defensive, Danny scowled. I pulled out of his grip and started gathering the papers up, "Anyway, I reckon you'll find out when we get to the airport, and for now I need to do these-"

"Alice, what is _wrong?_" Danny asked, taking my hands, concerned. I felt a pang in my stomach that I hadn't told him. But I couldn't find the words. This was the wrong moment anyway, he had to be spending more time with Evan, not me. Just because… I took a deep breath and forced myself to meet Danny's eyes.

"I'll tell you…later, yeah?" I negotiated. Something flickered in Danny's eyes but then swiftly disappeared. He heaved a sigh and then shrugged. Quickly, I changed the subject, not wanting to get on the right side of Danny at the moment. "Anyway, where did you find this out? Did Evan ring you?" Danny nodded in reply, and then let go of my hands, and started walking out of the surgery. For a moment I watched him, I knew how he felt… we didn't keep secrets from each other. But this was _important. _I was still unsure on how _I _felt about it. After a while of contemplating, I suddenly burst into sprinting like a cheetah after Danny. I caught up with him when he was by the fountain and forced him to look at me. "Danny, I _promise _I _will _tell you later. You'll understand why I didn't tell you now. Honestly. You will." I reassured him, looking straight into his light green eyes. Danny's jaw flexed, and in that moment I didn't think he'd believe me, and then he relaxed, and hugged me.

"Fine." He said, "Okay. Right, I believe you… Are you coming with me to pick Evan up?" Danny asked suddenly.

I looked up at him, grinning, "Of course I am you old fool… why wouldn't I? When do we need to leave?"

Danny glanced down at his wrist-watch that he always wore. I had a habit of stealing it occasionally and hiding it in places he wouldn't look just to annoy him. At first he would be annoyed but then he'd call it 'cute' once he found it. Though what was cute about it I didn't know. "Wow, we should leave now, actually." He answered.

I raised my eyebrows at him, "I thought you'd been looking at the clock every two minutes!" I teased.

"Yeah, well it doesn't help that my beauty keeps distracting me!" He teased me in return, and I blushed beetroot-red. How could I ever be beautiful? That wasn't possible. I had no idea how Danny could see me that way.

"Let's just go, yeah?" I said, trying to ignore his compliment. Danny sighed and rolled his eyes, he hated me for not believing compliments. I intertwined my hands with his as we walked towards the jeep, and Danny looked down at me happily. "Who's going to be here to look after Charlotte and Alex?" I realised. Sure, Nomsa was here, but she was busy with guest huts, and Dupe and Caroline were out buying gifts for Evan- it'd been his birthday a couple weeks ago and we hadn't seen him- so would there be to look after Charlotte and Alex when they got back from school? Who would even pick them up?

Danny grinned as we climbed in the truck, "Ah now that, is a secret!" He said.

"Danny!" I cried annoyed, knowing he was doing this on purpose.

Evans plane was delayed by half an hour. Danny sat beside me, fidgeting still, even _biting his fingernails. _I laughed and leaned into him slightly, instinctively he wrapped an arm around my shoulder strongly. "Relax!" I told him, and then noticed something on the screen changed. Evan's flight had landed. "See, look! The flight has landed already!"

Danny chuckled, "Sorry. I just really missed him, you know? I can't wait to see him." Danny explained, I rolled my eyes.

"Me too!"

It was true, I missed Evan. Though I'd never told either him or Danny this, he felt like son to me. But I wasn't sure if I'd be overstepping the mark if I actually told him this. But I'd turned up at Leopards Den when Danny was at his lowest, he'd lost Sarah little under a year ago, and Evan had been really down, too. Though he was euphoric that he'd been able to stay at Leopards Den, his home, rather than be shipped off to England like Olivia. Everyone at Leopards Den had been pretty down and I'd helped them get through it, mostly Danny, but I'd watched Evan blossom into a great young man, and I'd really got attached to him, too.

Beside me, Danny suddenly yelled, "Evan!" I looked up and saw a handsome, lanky young boy with dark brown hair heading towards us. Beside him his girlfriend, Sam, bobbed along. Sam was slightly odd, though incredibly intelligent she seemed to be in a world of her own. She looked the part, too. She had these amazing, large, deep brown eyes, so dark they look black in the dark. Sam had snow-white skin but her cheeks were always a rosy-pink, and she had shoulder-length straight orange hair, which she almost always wore in plaits, according to Evan. She was a hippie, and always in a different world to the one we were in.

Danny jumped up, taking my hand and we ran over to greet them. It was then that I noticed it. Danny was too busy gripping Evan in a vice-tight hug to notice. I'd said my hello to Sam, and hugged her, and then I felt it. I pulled away and looked down. She'd worn a loose, yellow top. But there was definitely a bump there. I swallowed, suddenly nervous. This did _not_ help.

"God, I've missed you Evan." I heard Danny say, and smiled fondly. Sam gazed at the pair too, but her eyes were clouded over. No idea what she'd be thinking about. Danny pulled away from Evan and clapped him on the shoulder. Then he turned to Sam, "Hey Sam!" He said enthusiastically, "It's great to see you again!" He said, and hugged her in greeting too. I met Evan's eyes over Danny and mouthed 'Congrats' Evan winked and then held his arms out. I grinned and walked around Danny, then hugged Evan softly.

"I've missed you." I admitted, my cheeks flushing slightly. Evan grinned.

"I've missed you too Alice!" He said in reply, and it made me feel happy inside that he had.

"Whoa- Oh my god Evan why didn't you tell me?!" I heard Danny exclaim, and both Evan and I turned to see Danny goggling at Sam's stomach. Both me and Evan laughed, but mine was more forced than genuine.

"Why you little!" Danny started, but his eyes built up in tears, and he grabbed all of us for a cheesy group hug. "I- Wow, Evan."

Sam gave a little giggle, her laugh was child-like. I looked over at her, "I'm involved in this, too, you know Danny. Your son may be amazing but I don't think he's capable of having a child by himself!" She said, grinning. Danny nodded.

"I- I- Yeah I mean…"

I covered for him, "Just congrats, guys." I said, and we all pulled away from our cheesy hug. "Now, lets get back home, eh?"

**A/N: *Cyber-hugs to you all* Hehe, I decided it's the unofficial free hug day ^.^ A boy called Gazzi, a friend of mine at school, made a cardboard sign saying 'free hugs' on it, and stood outside Tesco yesterday collecting hugs lol :') Then today he went around our school with it- got a total fo 364 hugs lol! One of them was off the head teacher :l Lol! Then a teacher tried to confiscate it so he ran for it, and then I gave him another hug ^.^ So yeah, that's why I gave you cyber-hugs. Teehee. Sorry that hardly anything happened in this but it's a filler(: I hate writing these, as well, and they are pretty boring, but it's needed :') Honest, it is. I'm sure you've all uncovered Alice's secret by now, anyway, but I needed to add this. Wow, this A/N is getting pretty long, should shut up now, right? Sorry. I'll just… wander off now… *Wanders off* **


	4. I can't do this

_**Alice's POV**_

**A/N: I hate myself.**

"So are you going to tell me this big secret yet?" I quizzed Danny, with a raised eyebrow. We were nearly back from picking up Evan and Sam from the airport, and I was dying to know.

"Secret?" Danny pretended to be innocent.

I laughed, "Yeah, the one about who is picking up my children from school?" I asked, and grinned.

Danny tapped the side of his nose and said, "I told you, it's a secret."

I rolled my eyes and sighed impatiently, then gave Danny a gentle shove. He laughed. So I turned around to Evan. He sat in the back with Sam. Sam was staring out at the African landscapes, her eyes clouded over, and Evan was watching me and Danny. I smiled, "How's your dad then Evan?"

Evan smiled slightly, "Better than before." He answered, and I nodded sympathetically. He wasn't doing to well- just better than before. Evan gave me another smile and then looked out at Africa like Sam was doing. Evan belonged in Africa. He should come here more often. But obviously, his dad must come first.

I turned back around, we were just pulling into Leopards Den now. I was eager to see what Danny was being so secretive about. Danny saw me, I was literally bouncing in my seat through eagerness, and laughed. I turned to him and gave him that 'You really want to go there?' look. He instantly shut up, and drove up to Leopards Den.

Alex, Charlotte and Nomsa came hurtling out of Leopards Den. They all ran down the steps and crowded Evan. Evan laughed and jumped down from the jeep. Alex jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. Charlotte smiled and said 'Hi'. She wasn't that affectionate anymore. Nomsa hugged him even though he had Alex in his arms, then they all noticed Sam. Sam had drifted to Evan's side, her eyes were slightly cautious. I don't think she knew what everyone's reactions would be. I realised Caroline and Dupe weren't here- who the hell had picked up Charlotte and Alex from school?

Charlotte's hand covered her mouth, "Whoa- Sam you're pregnant!"

Sam laughed, "Really? I hadn't noticed." She said sarcastically, then Charlotte suddenly hugged her. This shocked everyone. Charlotte pulled away, blushing.

Nomsa grinned, "Congratulations." She said to both Evan and Sam, then gave them a hug each. Me and Danny jumped out the jeep and joined everybody. Alex's eyes light up when he saw Danny.

"Dad! Guess who-"

"Shh Alex!" Danny said, grinning, and putting a finger to his lips. Alex looked slightly confused at this, but otherwise listened to Danny.

I raised my eyebrows, "You can tell me, Alex." I told him.

Alex stared at me with his green eyes, would he betray what his dad had told him to do? I gave him my biggest smile of encouragement. "Well…" He said uncertainly.

He never told me, in the end, not because he didn't want to, or because Danny stopped him, because they came out anyway.

"Evan!" Cried a voice that was slightly familiar. I spun around and saw Rosie standing on the veranda, with her husband, Max, standing beside her. I grinned. We hadn't seen much of Rosie, either, in fact we'd seen her the least, and she was the one who lived the closest! But she was so wrapped up in her vet studies that she hardly had time to see us, so it was mostly phone calls from her.

Rosie and Max jogged down the steps and met Evan, who still had Alex in his arms, Rosie hugged him tightly. Max shook his hand. Alex squirmed slightly and Evan set him down, laughing, and then Alex ran to Danny. Danny picked him up.

"So it's you two that Danny wouldn't tell me about!" I exclaimed, smiling. Rosie spun around.

"He wouldn't?" She asked, confused, and then she laughed and hugged me in greeting. I laughed, too.

"Yeah, he said people were picking up Alex and Charlotte from school but wouldn't tell me who!" I shot Danny a look, "I think he did it just to annoy me." I said, then crossed my arms across my torso.

Danny smiled sheepishly and held his hands up, palm-face forwards, trying to look innocent, "I felt like having a bit of fun!" He defended himself, "So shoot me!"

I grinned, "Happily!"

Rosie shook her head while laughing, and hugged her dad. Max came over and hugged me, too. He seemed preoccupied though. I noticed how his eyes kept darting from Sam to Rosie- what was up with him?

"You alright Max?" I asked.

Max swallowed, "I am…" He mumbled, then looked over and Rosie, "But Rosie probably won't be."

"Why not?" I asked, but he shook his head.

"Don't I get greeted?" Sam asked everybody, she was stood leaning back against the jeep, totally on the outside of the greeting circle. This didn't seem to affect her though.

Everyone turned to her, and I watched Rosie. What had Max been on about? Rosie's eyes fell on Sam's bump, she seemed shocked for a moment, and then her eyes filled with tears and they fell down her cheeks. I was completely startled, what was wrong?

"Rosie?" I said, and Max wrapped his arms around her. She collapsed into his side, and gently cried. Danny and me were both startled and alarmed. We both ran to her side.

"I thought this was supposed to be good news? Evan, what's wrong with your sister?" Sam asked innocently in the background. I didn't hear what Evan said to her. I was too busy with Rosie.

"Rosie? What's wrong? What is it?" Danny asked.

"Rosie?" I squeaked.

"No…" She croaked, "No… leave me… it wasn't supposed to come out like this…"

I looked up at Danny, confused. What was she on about? Danny looked at me, too, as if expecting me to explain what was going on. The only people who knew what was going on were Rosie and Max. And currently, Rosie wasn't in a fit state to tell us, and Max was too worried about Rosie to tell us. This was all just confusing. Alex stood next to Danny, staring up at his big sister, Sam and Evan were standing behind us now, equally as shocked, and Dupe and Caroline weren't here.

So that left Charlotte.

I spun around so quickly I tripped over my own feet. Danny caught me, and laughed half-heartedly, then turned back to Rosie, trying to coax out of her what was wrong. I quickly stumbled past Alex, Evan and Sam. I found Charlotte standing on the veranda, looking down at her hands.

"Charlotte?" I called her, and beckoned for her to come over. She looked hesitant, then sighed and came over to me. "Charlotte, do you know what's wrong with Rosie?" I asked her.

"Well…" She started quietly.

"Don't tell her, Charlotte." Rosie croaked, and I was surprised she'd heard. Everyone had parted so that Rosie could see Charlotte. "Please. Don't." She begged.

"But Rosie, wouldn't it-"

"No, Charlotte, you can't." Rosie said through her tears.

"Can someone _please _tell me what's going on?" Danny demanded.

"This… it was all supposed to come out… differently…" Rosie mumbled.

"What was, Rosie?" Danny asked.

Rosie straightened up slightly, but Max was still holding her. He had tears in his eyes, too. "We uh…" Rosie sniffed, "Well, you know, I've been studying but…" Her eyes strayed to Sam's stomach again, and something in the back of my brain clicked. Oh no, this could not be happening. "But… Well… I was… I got pregnant again-"

"When were you going to-" Danny started, but Rosie cut him off.

"And I lost it, again."

We were all silent. It was terrible, nobody knew what to say. But I knew from the look on Rosie's face that there was more.

"It was the second child I've lost," She whispered, "And- And I…" She drew a shaky breath, and suddenly burst out into sobs. Max cradled her close to him.

"Me and Rosie we… we can't have children." He explained to Danny, who stood there looking confused and concerned for his daughter. Danny's face went smooth. My heart leapt to my throat, I felt like I was going to be sick.

"You- You can't? Why?" He stammered.

"It's… a long story. We don't fully understand it, either." Max mumbled, and Rosie sobbed harder into his chest.

"I just… wanted… Why… It's so _horrible _Dad…" Rosie sobbed, and Danny looked utterly terrified. Rosie had never sobbed so much like this before. I felt my knees growing weaker and weaker.

"Rosie…" Danny whispered, and I knew I couldn't stand it anymore. I couldn't do this.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this." I said loud enough for them to hear. They all looked up at me, confused, and tears built in my eyes when Rosie's eyes met my own. I tried to give her a look that meant I was sorry and I had my reasons, but after two seconds, I pushed past Charlotte, and ran up the steps into Leopards Den, crying.

**A/N: I think most of you know why Alice would feel guilty(: **

**I feel soooo mean to Rosie+Max doing this, but, you know, I'm evil. Go on and hate me, I hate myself enough already. **


	5. The secret's out!

_Alice's POV_

**I stumbled through the kitchen, walking straight into chairs and side-cabinets. My eyes stung and I held my hands over my face, embarrassed that I was crying. I stumbled on through the hallway, walking straight into Jana, and finally making it into mine and Danny's room. I found the door, gripped the handle and flung it open, slamming it behind me in my haste. I collapsed on the bed and sobbed. There were no words for how guilty I felt right now. I knew that what Rosie wanted most out of anything was a child, as determined as she was to be a vet. And now she's not going to have one, like she's always dreamed of. Then there's me, unsure on whether I actually am **_**glad **_**I'm pregnant again.**

**What am I supposed to do? I was supposed to tell Danny later, I'd promised him, and I never broke my promises to Danny. But his daughter has just turned up, and told him she can't have children. Then his step-son has come back, and his girlfriend is pregnant. And secretly, I'm pregnant, too. God, I am too old for all this! **

**His **_**son **_**his having a child with his girlfriend, his daughter wants to have a child. I shouldn't be having children, at my age! What would anyone think? Not that I cared what anyone else thought but Danny, but still…His grandchild would be older than the baby; Sam had to be at least four months judging by the size of her stomach she'd tried to hide, but then again, both her and Evan were rather tall. Maybe the child had inherited their traits. I counted my lucky stars that Alex hadn't been a big baby, in fact he'd inherited my short frame. I prayed within me that this baby wouldn't have Danny's height genes, I was only 5'4, and pregnant by a 6'3 man, that wouldn't go down to well! **

**Soon I heard footsteps, and glanced at the clock, I'd been here for fifteen minutes now. God, where had the time gone? It wasn't like I'd been having fun whilst alone, crying, in me and Danny's room. I froze as I recognised those footsteps- they were Danny's. But wouldn't he want to talk to Rosie? Talk to Evan? They were his children, wouldn't he want to make sure they're okay before me? I've been through hurt like this before, well… it didn't hurt as much… I didn't feel so guilty last time.**

**The door creaked open, and slowly Danny's face poked around it. His eyes looked slightly red and puffy, and his cheeks glistened with old tears. I sat up when he came in and stared at him. He closed the door behind him, locked the door, and crossed the space between the door and the bed in two strides. Danny sat down beside me, and grabbed me, cradling me in his arms.**

"**Shouldn't you be with Rosie?" I asked, my voice scratchy. Danny looked confused as to why I'd been crying, and I wished this conversation would've come out a different way.**

**Danny shook his head and whispered, "I talked to her about it for a while, and then she was crying so much and…" He took a deep breath, and sighed, "But she went to the room where her and Max are staying, and Max is comforting her." He told me. **

"**Right." I said, and closed my eyes, melting into Danny's arms.**

**I don't know how long we sat like that for, but it was perfect. It was odd to have silence at Leopards Den, it was quite eerie, actually. But in Danny's arms it didn't matter. All my worries floated away, all of them, time seemed to stand still, it was as if nobody else on this planet existed and there was no such thing as sadness, just perfection. I loved how Danny could make me feel this way. Tears trickled out my eyes still, and I didn't know whether they were happy or sad.**

"**Are you going to tell me, then?" Danny asked, and I opened my eyes reluctantly and looked up at him. I pulled away to see him properly.**

"**Tell you what?"**

"**Why you just ran out like that, what you've been hiding from me, and why you've been crying." Danny reached out and gently stroked my tears away, leaving trails of tingles where his skin had come in contact with mine "I hate seeing you cry." He added.**

"**I hate crying." I mumbled, and then fell into Danny's side once more, avoiding his caring, and penetrating, gaze. **

"**Let me guess, later?" Danny asked, and I laughed slightly, he knew me too well. But when he didn't laugh I stopped. I looked up at him shyly and saw that his face was blank but his eyes showed betrayal. "I can't begin to imagine how Evan and Sam are feeling." Danny whispered, and his own eyes built up in tears. **_**Oh god Danny, please, don't talk about this **_**I prayed inside my head. I had an idea of how Sam was feeling, and if I told Danny he'd know how Evan's feeling, too. "I mean, it's bad enough seeing my daughter crying like that but…" He drew a shaky breath, then shook his head, "Anyway, I'm not here to talk about them, I'm here to talk about you."**

"**Why?" I asked curiously, "Don't you want-"**

"**They're all grown up now, Rosie and Evan." He told me, "They each have a person by their side who loves them and cares for them." His grip tightened on me, "So I'm by **_**your**_** side, because I **_**love**_** and **_**care**_** for you." He whispered into my ear, causing my heart to flutter and an involuntary smile to cross my face. **

"**It hurts, Danny." I finally whispered after a long pause. The gentle rhythm of Danny's heartbeat soothed me and finally I gathered the courage to tell him. Danny wanted to know, he **_**needed **_**to know. "I feel so… **_**guilty."**_

"**What over?" Danny asked.**

"**Over… Rosie." I admitted.**

"**Why?" Danny took my face in his hands and forced me to look at him, directly into those beautiful green eyes of his. "Why do you feel guilty? There's nothing for you to feel guilty about. It's nobody's fault, it's just nature, Alice. You-"**

"**I know how Sam feels." I interrupted and told him, hoping maybe he might catch on to what the words meant. Danny's face only became confused, and I suppressed a sigh. "I…" I looked away from Danny's eyes and saw the picture I had of Him and me, it was from we'd first announced we were a couple, though everyone already knew, at family day. Danny was grinning like a fool and had an arm wrapped around my waist while I hugged him with both of mine, a little too eager. There was a glint in both our eyes, love. Just like now. I looked back up at Danny and saw he did still have that look in his eyes, of love, even after all this time. "Danny, I… I don't know how to say this." I thought back to telling him I was pregnant with Alex, how had I done it? But then remembered it was Chris who'd told him. I reminded myself to tell Chris about this.**

"**Say what, Alice?" Danny asked curiously.**

**I counted every single shade of green in his eyes, trying to gather up the courage, before I whispered, "I'm pregnant, Danny." Then pulled away and buried my face in my hands. **

**A/N: Original ending was here but that felt mean and I couldn't get on the internet to upload it anyways 'cause I was downloading doctor who xD**

Tears slipped from my eyes, landing on my palms. I tried to stop crying, but I couldn't. I was too scared, too frightened, petrified. What was Danny thinking? How was he feeling? Did he understand why I'd been crying? Was he angry? Was he glad? What was he feeling?

"Oh, Alice." Danny whispered, and suddenly I was in his arms again, I could feel the tears dripping from his eyes as they landed on the top of my head, and we cried, united, for several minutes.

"I-I-I- feel so…" I tried to say, but failed.

"I know." Danny murmured, "I know, Alice." Then he placed both hands on either side of my cheeks and pulled me in for a kiss. Surprised, I kissed him back. When he let go of me he said, "But what makes me feel guilty the most is that it still seems to be the most amazing piece of news and I feel happy, when I shouldn't, should I?"

I bit my lip, "All I… All I feel is guilt, Danny. I'm…" I was scared of telling the truth, for fear Danny might not understand. He was happy about this baby, and I had no idea whether I was or not.

Danny's eyes flickered with sadness, and then his face fell, his eyes showed betrayal. "You're not happy though, are you?" He stated rather than asked, and I nodded. "Why, Alice?"

I took a deep breath, "Because… because I… I feel like… Well, for starters I feel guilty about Rosie and…" I knew Danny was sensitive, more than me, on the subject of age. He seemed to get it into his head that the fact he was older than me meant that he wasn't worthy of me. What a load of rubbish. But I knew he'd get really touchy over this subject, "and I… Danny, don't take this the wrong way, okay? But I'm… worried about, how I'm…" I took another deep breath, "You know Danny it's just… And with Sam…"

"Alice, please just tell me." Danny pleaded, taking my hands. I felt tears gather in my eyes.

"I'll tell you later Danny…" I mumbled.

"No." Danny said firmly, "No Alice, you tell me now."

I looked up, startled, it all came out in a rush, "I'm scared because your grandchild will be older than your child, I'm scared because we're older now Danny and people don't usually have children at our age, and I'm scared of what everyone will think… no matter how much I tell myself I don't."

Danny's hands became still upon my own, they lost their soothing touch, and became cold. My heart froze. Danny's face went blank. Tears blurred my vision, and I felt Danny draw his hands away from me. He rest his head in his hands.

"I never thought you had a problem with age." Danny whispered, "You never had a problem with Alex."

_That was two years and seven months ago. _I thought, but didn't dare say the words. "I don't, I just… it's all just hit me, because of the Rosie thing, and Sam being pregnant. I'll- I'll probably be better about it later on-"

Danny looked up very quickly, "No, Alice… If that's how you feel… How-How long have you known, how long have you felt like this?"

I blinked, "I've been feeling this way for about a month… ever since I found out." I admitted, and looked down at my hands.

"And do you know how far along you are?"

"Thirteen weeks." I admitted, the pregnancy tests was one of those tests where it told you how far along you were.

"But- But shouldn't you be showing? That's just over three months, that's when you start to show, isn't it?" Danny asked. I looked up at him and pressed a hand to my stomach, I could feel the tiniest of bumps underneath my hand. "12 weeks- that's the latest you can have an abortion, isn't it?" Danny asked, and relief etched every single molecule of his skin.

"I'm not a murderer Danny." I snapped, "I'd never kill my baby!" Then I realised I'd said 'my' baby instead of 'the' baby, which was a big difference to me. I looked down at my stomach, realising my hand was still pressed against it, was it possible that despite these obstacles I'd thought so much about I already loved my baby?

Of course I did.

Then happiness flooded through my veins. I had been thinking so much on the negatives I hadn't really taken it in that I was pregnant.

"Oh my god," I breathed, and smiled, "I'm pregnant."

Danny frowned, "What?"

I shook my head, "I've been thinking about the negatives so much that I hadn't really taken in the fact that I was pregnant…" I bounced up and down in my seat happily, "Oh my god Danny we're going to have another baby!" I cried, and flung my arms around his neck. Danny was still for a moment, then relaxed and wrapped his arms around me.

"Yeah." He breathed. "Yeah, we are."

I pulled away from him, "I want to tell everyone, I'm so excited- but now I feel exactly the same way you do. Guilty, for being happy at this moment, when I should actually be guilty."

Danny laughed, and then his face went soft, "Well… I think we're going to have to tell them, Alice. We can't hide it from them, they're all going to wonder what's up with you, anyway. You did have quite a dramatic exit after all."

I rolled my eyes, then stood up, taking his hand and pulling him up with me. "C'mon, lets go and prepare to be…" I shrugged, "I was going to say eaten alive, but Rosie isn't angry, just…" I trailed off, and then me and Danny started to exit the room.

As Danny closed the door behind us he suddenly grabbed me and whispered, "Just one more thing before we go."

I raised my eyebrows at his serious face, "And what may that be, Mr Trevanion?" I asked.

Danny grinned, "Thank you, for giving me this." He whispered, and his hand covered my stomach, "I love you, Alice Trevanion."

"I love you too, Danny." I whispered in response, and then stood on my toes, and kissed him fiercely.

And once again, the whole world floated away.

**A/N; Dang, that chapter was slightly like my other fic, but I guess that it's just 'cause Alice is pregnant in both of them :') But don't worry, neither fic is like the other. I promise. You'll hate me for the ending, of both probably, because you all know in the other that Alice has cancer so… but I'm not giving away what's happening at all in this one. **_**(Yes Chloe, that means I refuse to give you any hints. ^_^ That's what you get when you keep secrets from me in YOUR fic for AGESSSS!)**_** hehe(:**

**Please review? I love you? :') **

**xo**


	6. Betrayal

_**Alice's POV**_

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing here?" I asked Danny as we walked on through the hallway after pulling away from our embrace.

Danny nodded slowly, "Yeah, it's better than keeping it from them, isn't it?" Danny's head dipped, "I know it's going to be hard to tell Rosie though, and it's breaking my heart because I'm going to have to break hers _further._" Danny whispered, his voice almost see-through.

"Danny," I stopped him and forced him to look at me. I cradled his face in my hands, stroking his cheek gently with one thumb, I looked straight into his soft green eyes, "I'm right here with you, we're doing this together, you're not alone. You have me." I told him gently.

"But she's my _daughter, _Alice. Imagine if it was Charlotte-"

"I know." I whispered, and tears built up in my eyes, "It hurt me so much, Danny. To see her like that and knowing that I have the one thing she's wanted the most in life, but it's just life. It's the way things are and there's no changing it. But I don't need to _imagine _it's Charlotte at all. Rosie's like a daughter to me too, you know."

Danny grinned, "I love you, do you know that?" Danny asked quietly.

"Yeah, I do, you've been telling me for what, 5 years now?" I joked, trying to change the serious atmosphere to make Danny feel better. "Just like I've been trying to tell you I love you more these past 5 years."

"Impossible." Danny murmured, then kissed my lips gently.

I pulled away sooner that I'd like, but I couldn't take my mind off breaking Rosie's heart, I didn't want to, and I had no idea how we're going to tell her. "C'mon Danny," I whispered, taking his hand and squeezing it, "We can do this."

"With you, I can do anything." Danny said, happier than before, as we journeyed on to find Rosie. I didn't reply, I simply blushed. Danny laughed half-heartedly.

Rosie had supposedly been in her room, with Max, but when we went there she wasn't there. Confused, we found Nomsa in the kitchen and asked her if she knew where Rosie was. Nomsa told us Rosie had gone to the living room, so me and Danny, still confused, ventured off in direction for the front room. Rosie was sat on the sofa, beside Max, everyone was gathered around her in the chairs. They all seemed to be avoiding Rosie's gaze. The only people missing were Charlotte and Nomsa now. Caroline and Dupe had returned, evidently, when me and Danny had been in the room. As for Charlotte, I've no idea where she's disappeared to.

"Everyone…" Danny started quietly, "Can- Can me and Alice have a word with Rosie and Max alone please?"

"I'm fine Dad," Rosie said stubbornly, I remembered what she'd been like when she'd lost her first baby. 'I'm not an invalid guys!' She'd said. "No need to clear the room."

"Rosie, it's-"

"Now." I said forcefully, glaring at everyone else who seemed like they wanted to stay and watch. Caroline sighed and pulled Dupe away, Dupe struggling slightly to stay and watch, but Caroline managed to get him out. Sam didn't even to appear to have been listening, and was gazing out the window from her armchair, one hand placed over her stomach, her eyes dreamy. I felt a pang in my stomach from the guilt. Evan guided her out. Me, Danny, Rosie and Max were left alone. Rosie looked extremely angry.

"Oh c'mon Alice," She started, rather angrily, "You know I don't need this heart-to-heart talks! I thought you'd be on _my _side!"

I fell down onto my knees to look at her and grabbed both her hands, "I _am _on your side Rosie," I whispered, staring directly into her eyes, I gave her hands a squeeze, "But your dad has something to say."

Rosie's eyes stared back into my own for a minute, as if assessing me, then she sighed and nodded. I let go of her hands, taking a seat next to Danny, Max stared curiously at us both. "Okay then, lets hear it." Rosie said, sucking in a deep breath and looking up at both of us.

And just like that, a tiny bump on my left side. "Oh!" I gasped, clutching the left side of my stomach, and my eyes widening.

"What?" Rosie, Max and Danny asked simultaneously. I looked at Danny and gave him a meaningful look, raising my eyebrows and willing him to catch on. Surprisingly, Danny did. He literally leaped out of his skin. "No way!" He cried, eyeing the spot on my stomach I was holding.

And then I put my head in my hands, once Rosie found out what this was about she'd think I'd been trying to rub it in her face or something. It was completely the opposite though, why would I want to hurt Rosie? But there was nothing I could do about this, this was all life. It was just another part of the endless cycle, that none of us could stop. On my right side this time, there was another tiny kick. I tried not to jump, that would make it worse. Oh god, how were me and Danny going to say this? How could I live with myself knowing I had what Rosie couldn't? Tears fell out of my eyes like a leaky tap, and I tried to hide them, but it was like Danny had a sixth sense with this stuff. "Alice?" He asked quietly.

"I- can't- do- this." I whispered through gritted teeth, trying not to make it sound like I was crying, but I was useless at that stuff.

"Alice?" Rosie said this time, and I looked up at her. She seemed shocked, "What's-What's wrong?"

"Don't hate me- Please, Rosie." I begged, "It never- never- meant to happen!" I told her through tears, "It was- was accident! We- I- Danny-" I choked on my words, and Rosie's eyes bugged wide. She leaned forward, off her chair, and grabbed my hands.

"Tell me what's wrong, Alice!" She pleaded.

"Nothing's _wrong._" I whispered, and closed my eyes, "In fact, it'd all be god damned perfect if I wasn't hurting _you_… and you don't know how much it hurts, Rosie." My voice was so quiet even I barely heard myself. I pulled my hands out of hers and wrapped my arms around my stomach, as if hugging myself. "So, so, much." I whispered.

"What's she on about? Hurt me? Alice! Dad, tell me?" Rosie begged, and I covered my ears childishly.

"Don't talk Rosie, please don't, please don't care about me, _please_." I begged, "You're going to _hate _me-"

Rosie took my hands off my ears and my eyes flickered open, "Tell me, Alice." She said lowly, and I could tell her patience was running thin.

My mouth opened, and closed. And again. Danny wrapped his arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head, "It's okay Alice," He soothed, "I'll tell her, you don't have to do this."

"Do what?" Rosie said frustrated.

Before Danny replied, I whispered, "I'm pregnant, Rosie."

Rosie's eyes flickered to mine and held their gaze for a brief moment. Her eyes seemed to tell everything. The confusion, hate, disbelief, mistrust… Then she jumped up on her feet and ran, she just ran and ran down the hallway. Skidding to a stop and jumping through the door to her room. It slammed behind her, and we all heard the click of the lock in the silence. Max sat stunned for a moment, and then slowly rose and went after her. He kept knocking on the door, even though she'd locked the door. Something I'd do with Danny, or he'd do for me.

Dupe came around the corner, followed by Evan, Sam and Caroline. "Congrats?" Dupe said uncertainly, and I was downright outraged they had listened.

"You _listened_?" Danny spat.

"Well yeah, we wanted to check Rosie was okay, we thought you two was just gonna talk to her about it, you know? We didn't expect…" His eyes travelled down to my stomach.

"Thanks." I said sourly, standing up, "Thanks a whole lot guys. You've made this whole situation _so _much better!" I cried, and ran out of Leopards Den. I sprinted out onto the veranda, embarrassed by my tears. Danny didn't come after me, he knew I was unable to reason with in moods like this.

And before I knew what I was doing, I was sprinting towards Rosie's window.

**A/N: Don't know if you count this as a cliffhanger or not, if so, sorry? Please review! XD **


	7. The talk

_**Alice's POV**_

Her window was already open, which made it a whole lot easier. I pushed my hair out of my eyes and pushed the curtains aside. I saw Rosie sat looking extremely upset on the end of her bed, toying with the covers. I sighed. She looked up at me, startled. I smiled slightly, and vaulted over the window frame, landing softly in her room.

"Rosie-"

"You shouldn't be doing that." She told me, "Not in your condition." She nodded towards my stomach, "You don't want to hurt yourself or the baby."

_It'll live _I thought.

Her voice was scratchy, as if she'd been crying. I understood why she would. Damn, if I lost this baby and was then told that I couldn't have anymore, and then found that two people in my family are pregnant… God, I'd be lost for words. It would be like hell, wouldn't it? To see someone go through all the stages of happiness, to see someone have what you want and they're constantly there, never out of sight, never out of your mind. To yearn for what they have but to never be allowed and then be left, the only one on the outside.

"Rosie, please don't hate me." I whispered, and I realised I was still crying. I didn't even bother to wipe the tears away.

"It must be nice." Rosie said quietly, "Your third child and all. With the man you love, my dad. To have such a secure future… It must be nice."

I hurried to her side and sat on the bed beside her. I gripped her in for a tight hug, she leant into me willingly, and she started to sob. "Don't cry Rosie, please don't cry." I told her, squeezing her shoulders "You and Max can get through this, I know you can."

Rosie started sobbing harder, had I said the wrong thing? God, I was useless at this aunt agony crap. She needed someone who could really say what needed saying to make her feel better. Whatever I feel, whatever I think, whatever I'm saying, it must be wrong, because it's making her sadder and making her cry like this. What sort of step mum was I? Why couldn't I make Rosie feel even the tiniest bit better? I always remember how we got along really well, when I'd first moved here, she'd told me to take care of her dad when she went to Cape Town to study, and I did. She'd been pleased for me and Danny, truly please. When I'd been pregnant with Alex, she'd been truly pleased for us. But now?

"It's so hard, Alice." Rosie whispered through her tears.

"I know." I said sympathetically, "But Rosie-"

"What if Max leaves me?" She asked, "How am I supposed to live without him?"

I froze, "Why on earth would he leave you?"

"Because…" Rosie paused for a moment, then she sniffed and carried on, "Well, he's always wanted children, too. When he first proposed it was one of the things I was unsure about, sort of argued about, you know? He had it all planned out, wanted three kids you know… but-but he said he'd wait until I finished my vet studies and then all the wedding went wrong and then I was pregnant and then I lost it and then we were married and we were still gonna wait but- but it just happened. I've no idea how." Rosie buried her face in her hands and pulled away from me slightly, I kept a hand on her back sympathetically, "And then I lost that one too and was told I couldn't have any more! I know he's disappointed in me, I've failed him-"

"Hold your horses, Rosie." I said quietly, interrupting her, "You and Max, you've got something special. I'm talking about fate here - when feelings are so powerful it's as if some force beyond your control is guiding you to someone who can make you happy beyond your wildest dreams. So Max would never feel like you've failed him, and he would never be disappointed in you. Okay?"

"But-"

"He doesn't Rosie, you know who was disappointed? About this whole situation?" I asked.

"Dad?" Rosie guessed, more fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, "Oh god, I've failed him too-"

"No. No you're right, your dad was disappointed. But not in you." Rosie lifted her head to meet my eyes, gazing at me curiously. "He was disappointed in me. Because this," I gestured to my stomach, "I was severely unhappy about-"

"How can you say that?" Rosie asked, and I let her vent, "How can you say things like that? You're having another child, Alice… Why would you be unhappy about it?"

"Because I was only thinking of the negatives. Of how it would affect you, mostly."

"So what you're saying is that it's my fault that you're not happy. Well thanks, Alice." Rosie said sourly. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply.

"No Rosie, I'm not saying anything like that. I- I am happy… I just wish I wasn't hurting you."

Rosie sniffed, and then shrugged, "It doesn't matter. In the end everyone hurts you, you know." Then she looked up at me and smiled smally, "You just need to decide who's worth the pain."

Tears touched my eyes, I gripped her hands, squeezing them gently, "You forgive me?" I asked her, "You don't hate me anymore?"

Rosie looked up at me, looking rather surprised. She raised her eyebrows and her large brown eyes held confusement. "Forgive you for what, Alice? I don't hate you- I never have!" She cried, laughing slightly.

I sighed in relief, "Thank god, Rosie, I thought you hated me for being-"

"Pregnant?" Rosie finished my sentence for me, grinning, "Alice, you don't think I'd ever stoop so low, do you? I'd never be able to hate you- you're family."

"Rosie, I've always…" I took a deep breath, "I know there's not… there's not that much of a age gap, not that of a typical step-mum-step-daughter-relationship, anyway. But… And I know we've always been more like, sisters? I guess… but you know, I think of you as my daughter…" I told her seriously. I wondered how she'd take it.

Rosie smiled, "That's great, because I think of you as a mum figure, I was beginning to think you'd never say that!" Rosie practically screamed, and threw her arms around me, and I nearly toppled off the edge of the bed. I laughed, though. I was pleased with her reaction.

"I was scared on your reaction." I whispered into her ear, and she pulled away, frowning.

"Of course I was only going to be pleased!" She said, rolling her eyes dramatically, "Honestly, Alice!" She said, laughing.

After out laughing, and Rosie almost crying, as well as me, I finally grinned and said, "C'mon, everyone's going to be wondering where we are."

"Oh yeah- what happened to you? I hardly believe Dad let you jump through and window in your condition." Rosie asked curiously.

I grinned, "Well, people sort of heard, and I sort of was hurt… you know, by them eavesdropping and all," I scratched the back of my head awkwardly, "Then sort of, ran out. You're right, your dad would never let me do that." I grinned, "But since when have I ever not had my way?"

"So stubborn!" Rosie teased as we walked out the door, finding a very surprised Danny and Max standing outside. Danny stared at me, and I knew what the first question on his mind would be. I grabbed his hand.

"C'mon, Danny." I said, tugging him down the hallway.

I pulled Danny into our room and locked the door behind me. "How did you get into Rosie's room? You ran outside!" Danny demanded.

I turned around to him and grinned innocently, "I jumped through her window," I said casually, waving a hand in the air like it was nothing. Then I crossed the room and perched on the end of the bed, Danny followed me.

"You _jumped _through her-!" Danny started, I simply sighed and slung my arms around him, then kissed him gently. Danny was surprised, and froze for a moment, but otherwise responded happily. I pulled away, smiling.

"Now, before you start, I didn't hurt myself." I said, tapping him on the end of the nose playfully, "And I got Rosie to accept it, she's fine about it now, she just needed a bit of reassurance. So it was all worth it!"

Danny nodded slowly, "And the reassurance involved you telling her you thought of her like a daughter?" Danny asked, his eyes misting slightly.

"You heard that?"

"I sure did."

"Bat-like hearing, eh?" I teased, grinning.

"That's me!" Danny said, and I think he tried to pretend to be a bat, but it didn't really work, and I ended up rolling around on the bed crying with laughter, "Hey! I make a very good bat!" Danny cried defensively.

"Yes, an _old _bat!" I laughed, and Danny raised his eyebrows.

"You starting?" He asked.

"Yeah I am! Want to take this outside, fool?" I teased, pretending to be a gangster. **(A/N: I do this often with my friend Gazzi, I'm just too cool, anyway…) **While laying down on the bed, Danny smiled mischievously.

"Actually, I'd rather stay where public eyes can't see." He said seriously, and leaned down and caught my lips with his. My eyes fluttered close for a moment, and suddenly Danny's lips disappeared from mine. I opened my eyes, confused, and saw Danny grinning on the other side of the bed.

"You're such a tease!" I cried, crawling to his side.

"Me? A tease?" Danny replied incredulously.

"Yes! A very good one, at that!" I mumbled, and grabbed his hands, staring deeply into his green eyes. My breath caught. Those eyes, god, who wouldn't crumble under his gaze? "Danny, I love you." I told him seriously, and before he could interrupted I carried on, "I love you today, yesterday and every tomorrow. There is nothing else to do, run and I will run with you. I love you in the morning, in the middle of the day, in the hours we are together, and the hours we are away. There's no limit to what I wouldn't do for you. Just ask, it will be done, no matter the miles, no matter the sacrifice. I love you, and you'll always be in my heart."

Danny opened his mouth slightly, and there was silence for a moment, "You could put all the hearts together in the world and that _still_ wouldn't describe how much I love you." He whispered tearfully, and suddenly grabbed me, and kissed me fiercely. I melted into the kiss happily, this was all I needed. Right here, in my arms. There was nothing else I needed. This feeling Danny gave me, tingling from head to toe, my heart feeling like it was going to burst, just… God, there was just _no _describing how much I loved Danny Trevanion, and there will never be a moment where I don't, this love just seems to grow more and more… every single day…

**A/N: Hey my fabulous reviewers of the world wide web! There'll be no updates from me for like… a week? This makes me sad. That I can't write. I enjoy my writing. I'll have no internet access 'cause of going on holiday, damn it. So I won't be able to read any of yours updates, I hope you have lots of updates for me when I get back so I can be a very happy bunny and review lots and smile lots? Yeah? There we go. Hehe, hope you liked the ending, this wasn't originally how it was gonna go, but I wanted my last update for a while to be Danicey. Well, Daniceish. Since it was only the ending. But you know. *Salutes you all* I friggin' love you reviewers, have I mentioned that? Review for a cyber-cookie! Or a cyber-hug, whichever you prefer, I'll make sure you get one ;] hehe. **

**I heart you'se all, and your fics, I'm so sad I won't be on! *Sighs***

**Oh well, at least I'll have videos on my iPod of…**

**Danice *Draws love heart in the air***

**xxxxxxxxxxxx**


	8. Sleepyhead Alex

**A/N: Here's something that took me from Monday to Wednesday to write(:**

**Alice's POV**

**(The next day)**

_I couldn't ignore the crazy cravings I was having, not was there any need to anymore. Everyone knew about it anyway, they should all expect it, there was no need to hide it anymore. So the first thing I did when I walked into the kitchen was grab a bowl of cornflakes instead of my usual buttery toast. I sat down beside Danny, who'd awoke and entered the kitchen the same time as me, and looked up to join in the conversation. But instead I met several pairs of surprised and confused eyes. My cheeks flushed with the attention, a natural reaction, and then I asked, "What?"_

_Dupe was the one who answered, "Er, no toast today?" He asked in a surprised voice. I did eat toast rather religiously. _

_I completely forgot that I was supposed to be angry at him for eavesdropping yesterday and replied, "Nope. I'm craving cereal today."_

_Rosie caught my eye and grinned. I winked at her then smirked, "Anyway Dupe, shouldn't you be eavesdropping on others personal conversations? Or are my crazy cravings too interesting for you?" I raised my eyebrows, changing the conversation. _

_Dupe looked back down at his plate then continued eating. I grinned to myself and carried on eating my cornflakes. Did cornflakes usually tast this good or was it just my odd cravings? If they usually tasted this good, then damn I've been missing out by eating toast religiously!_

"_Calm down Alice, it's not a race." Danny's voice pierced through my thoughts and I paused and looked up at him, my spoon half-raised. I hoped I hadn't been eating like a pig._

"_You're funny." I replied tolling my eyes, Danny laughed._

"_I know, I'm amazing." Danny said cheerfully, and took a bit from his fry up that Nomsa had made him. I used his silence as a advantage._

"_Yep. You make an amazing old bat." _

_Danny raised his eyebrows and swallowed what he was eating. "You're really going there?" He asked. I felt many pairs of eyes on us at the moment. Probably all wondering what was going on. _

"_Sure am." I said, and poked my tongue out at him. There was a flicker of something in Danny's eyes, I immediately recognised it. I jumped out of my seat and Danny slowly rose out of his, grinning. "Don't you dare." I warned him, and I could still feel several pairs of curious eyes on us. But I didn't dare take my eyes off of Danny's planning figure._

_He grinned, "I dare."_

_I screamed, "No!" and ran out of the room as fast as I could, Danny hot on my heels. Even though I was running as fast as I could, I knew there was no escaping Danny when he was on a mission._

_His mission? To tickle._

_**Dupe's POV (Why not?)**_

_We all sat in silence for a moment. I replayed the scene from before. Danny didn't even need to say _anything and Alice knew what he was planning. Alice had jumped up and ran, screaming, as if her life was in Danny. And then Danny had run after her, a mischievous smile planted on his face. Crazy psychic lovers!

I think everyone was trying to understand what was going on, too, because they didn't say anything. They all wore the same look of wonder on their expressions. Rosie had a slight calculating one, though. She grinned suddenly. We could all hear Alice's squeals now, too. Rosie smiled wider, then shook her head. I was sure she knew what they were up to.

"Tickle fight," She told us, and all eyes looked at her, "I thought it might be. They had one before when Alice made a remark about Dad and he heard, I was on the phone to Alice at that point and all I could hear was her squealing 'Get off!'. I guess she's very ticklish." Then she laughed slightly, remembering.

We all nodded and continued eating in silence (Nomsa's fry-ups were the best), we were silent apart from the occasional scrape of cutlery against plates. Alice on the other hand didn't seem to want to shut up. Danny should just leaver her be, it was only one remark. Alice was obviously very ticklish because she was endlessly giggling, shrieking and squealing. Everyone cleared from the table eventually, and placed their plates on the side. Then they all went on with whatever they were doing today. I placed my plate on the side when little Alex walked in. It was Saturday so he wasn't at his little school-nursery thing, whichever one it was that he went to. I got confused with all this stuff. Thank god I hadn't looked after Kirk when he was Alex's age! Could you imagine how much of a bad idea that would have been?

Alex rubbed his eyes and looked around, then he turned to me and stared at me with those green eyes that were the image of Danny's, "Dupe, where's mummy? All I could hear was screaming… is she hurt?" He asked, in his cut little lisp-voice.

_Of course that's all you could hear _I answered in my mind. Then I realised that the squealing had stopped. Maybe Danny had stopped and they'd gone down to the animal hospital. "She's not hurt. You want her? I know where she is."

"Yes please." Alex answered, and started following me. He seemed to stumble a little, I guessed he'd only just woke up. It was quite cute, really, watching him stumble along after me, his green eyes tired, wearing his bob the builder pajamas.

We walked out onto the veranda and fond Danny and Alice, who had seemed to had given up on the whole tickle fight thing and started on their favourite sport- eating each others faces off. Seriously, did they have nothing else to do with their lives?

I cleared my throat and rolled my eyes. Alex made a noise of disgust. _Good on you son_ I said mentally. Danny and Alice leapt apart in surprise, then looked in our direction. Danny smirked and looked down at his feet. Alice blushed beetroot red, as always. "Look, Alice-" I started my apology while I had the chance.

She held up a hand, "Don't worry about it Dupe, it's all good now, everything's alright."

I smiled, "I am sorry though." Alice shook her head, I noticed that most of the blush was gone now. I indicated to little sleepy-head Alex, "Anyway, Alex was asking for you."

"Me?" Alice repeated, shocked. I have to admit it, it was rather surprising. Alex did love his mum, obviously, but I swear that kid is Danny's shadow! I nodded slowly and a giant smile spread across Alice's face, "Aww honey, what's up?" She asked Alex, crouching down to his level. He stumbled over to her and let her pick him up before he answered.

"I could hear you screaming lots and it woke me up, I thought you was hurt, mummy." He told her, "Dupe said you wasn't, but I wanted to check."

I laughed, "Thanks for the trust, kid."

Alice winked at me, then looked back down at Alex. She kissed the top of his head affectionately, "Aww baby, I'm sorry I woke you up. And don't worry, I'm not hurt, Dupe was right… for once." Danny looked up at me, smiling, at this remark. Alice carried on, "Do you want to know something honey?" She asked him, and I nodded at Danny and exited. Of course, I didn't exit rather quickly, rather slowly actually. I wanted to hear what Alex said.

"Yeah…" I heard Alex say.

"Well, you're gonna have a little brother or sister- how does that sound?"

"Where is it?" I heard Alex ask eagerly. Danny and Alice laughed.

"Well, you see this tiny bump here? That's them, inside my stomach." Alice explained.

Alex was silent for a moment, and I waited just within hearing range so that I could hear his reaction. To be honest, I had no idea whatsoever on what his reaction would be. Rosie was fine with it now. Evan was ecstatic about it. Liv hadn't been told yet, and Charlotte… You know what, she hadn't said a word about it at all, in fact she hadn't really spoke at all. Well, I'll talk to her or something. Or maybe I should tell Danny or Alice to talk to her instead of putting my size 9's in it all the time. Anyway, my point is that they're all a wide range of ages, so how would little two year old Alex take it?

"You swallowed it?" He asked, and I laughed gently. That kid was great.

Life is good.

**Alice's POV**

"Do you want to know something honey?" I asked Alex, still a little shocked that he'd asked for me instead of Danny.

Dupe exited back into Leopards Den, but I knew that he'd still be within hearing range, he'd be curious about what Alex had to say. Anyone would be. I was!

"Yeah…" Alex replied curiously, looking from me to Danny, and back again.

"Well," I looked at Danny and he smiled at me, I looked back down at Alex, "You're gonna have a little brother or sister- how does that sound?"

Alex's green eyes light up. I was glad, how was a two year old, (_'Nearly three!' _He'd remind me every time someone mentioned his age) supposed to take that? "Where is it?" He asked me eagerly, sitting up straighter in my arms, looking around as if expecting it to just appear. If only it were that easy! Both me and Danny laughed.

"Well, you see this tiny bump here?" I indicated at the slight bump of my stomach, "That's them, inside my stomach."

Alex's mouth opened into a tiny 'o' and he bent down in my arms a little to place one of his tiny hands on my stomach. Tears stung my eyes and I smiled at this. Then he frowned, "You swallowed it?" He asked rather frustrated, I bit back a laugh. Danny didn't manage to hold his back, though.

"No, little man, it's growing inside of Ali- Mummy." Danny told him, ruffling his hair. Surprisingly, again, Alex didn't ask to be picked up but Danny. He really must be amazed by the idea of having a little brother or sister. Usually he's superglued to Danny!

"How's it supposed to get out Mummy?" Alex frowned.

Now, there was something that he didn't need to know, "You'll find out when you're older, baby." I told him.

"When can you let it out, then?" Alex replied with another question.

"Well," I laughed along with Danny this time, "Quite a while, it's not ready yet."

Alex nodded slowly. "A sister." He announced, "I want a sister."

"Really?" Danny asked.

Alex nodded, "Yes, because then she'll be really pretty. Like mummy!"

I blushed and Danny wrapped an arm around my waist, laughing, "See?" Danny whispered into my ear, "I've been trying to tell you this for the past five years. You're beautiful, Alice."

**A/N: Sorry that not much happens :/ xx**


	9. Baby Emma

_(4 Months Later- Rosie's gone back to study now)_

**Alice's POV**

**A/N: Just to let you know, I didn't want to do this… oh and btw Alice is only 7 months pregnant. :\**

I winced as yet another wave of pain overwhelmed me. Alex looked up from his colouring, tilting his head to the side as I tried to shape my face into an expression that looked normal. He frowned, "Mummy, what's wrong with your face?" He asked, and I smiled genuinely.

"I'm just hurting a little, that's all honey. Don't worry." I told him quietly, and tried to arrange my face to normal as another wave of pain hit me. Mainly my stomach.

"Is it Emma? Is she kicking again?" Alex asked. We'd found out the sex of the baby before, a girl, and instantly I knew she had to be called Emma. Danny knew not to argue with me. Not while I was pregnant, anyway.

"Yeah." I lied.

Alex stood and placed hand on my belly, "Stop kicking mummy, Emma!" He commanded, "It's not nice to kick." He told her, but then he lent down and kissed my bulging stomach softly, "But hurry up and come out, please. I cant wait- I'll teach you how to get your way without having to hit anyone!" He smiled and then added, "I love you sissy."

I smiled and pulled Alex onto the sofa besides me, "I love you baby." I whispered, and kissed his cheek.

"I love you too mummy. Look- I drew you this!" He told me excitedly, grabbing a piece of paper off the table, and shoving it in my hands, "It's You," He indicated to the slightly small woman with long brown hair and blue eyes, "Daddy," He indicated to the stickman with brown hair and green eyes beside the woman, "Me," He pointed at the little version of the stickman, "Charlotte," He pointed at the stick girl who was the same height as me, but with green eyes and brown eyes. Just like Danny and Alex. Then Alex pointed to a little stick girl, with long brown hair and blue eyes, basically my clone but smaller, "And Emma." He said her name softly.

Tears formed in my eyes- god damned pregnancy! Making me emotional! "Thank you honey." I told him, "It's beautiful. I'll frame it and we'll put it up in here, yeah?" Alex grinned happily and nodded in agreement. Then he jumped down and continued with his drawings, his tongue sticking out and a tiny frown marring his face as he concentrated. Another wave of pain came over me, and I gasped, Alex looked up quickly. Then I clicked. I realised what this was. But it was too early! "Alex, honey, go get Daddy from the hospital please!" I told him.

"Is it Emma? Because if she's kicking again I can tell her to-"

"Now honey, please!" I told him, struggling to hold my tears. Bloody hell- it hadn't hurt this much with Charlotte or Alex!

"Okay mummy!" Alex told me, and jumped up and ran in his two year old splendour to Danny. Who I hoped would be able to save… to tell me what was happening… why… I heard Alex shouting "DADDDDDDYYYYYYYYYYYY! IT'S MUMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYY!"

"Fuck!" I cried as Emma kicked harshly and my waters broke. _No No No! This wasn't happening!_

"Alice!" Danny sprinted into the room as I doubled over on the sofa. He took my hand, "What's wrong! Alex said it was Emma- I told Dupe to call an ambulance! It'll be here soon! What's wrong?"

"It's." I gritted my teeth, "The baby, my… my waters broke Danny! Its… It's too… early!"

Danny's grip on my hand faltered, "Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes I'm bloody sure!" I snapped, and groaned, "What's happening Danny, what's happening to our baby?"

"I don't know Al-"

"Mum?" Charlotte's voice came from the doorway, and I looked up, seeing her standing there holding Alex's hand, looking shocked. "W-What's wrong?" She stammered, as her eyes roamed across the room, taking in the scene. I swallowed.

"Charlotte, honey, please… look after Alex… I've got to…" I couldn't get any more out, I was sobbing to hard; Why was my baby coming out so early?

Danny finished for me, "Her waters have broke, Charlotte!" He said fearfully, "The ambulance will be here soon, you've got to look after Alex for us! Dupe will be here too…" Danny broke off and wrapped an arm around my suddenly as I groaned and put my head in my hands. Sam. This was supposed to happen her first! She was nine months gone for gods sake! She'd been due a week ago! That's why they had flown back to England- She wanted to deliver there. So why was this happening to me? To my baby? What was going to happen?

The scream of the Ambulance came and the paramedics rushed in.

**Later!**

Someone was holding my hand, and that was probably the most I could tell you. My brain felt fuzzy, you know that feeling when you wake up halfway through the night and you don't know where you are or what you're doing there, even though you're just in the same place as usual? When you're that confused? Maybe it's just me, I don't know. But I had that feeling right then. My head felt heavy and I felt empty, like something had been taken away from me. I tried to open my eyes and they fluttered slightly but refused to open fully. The person holding my hand squeezed it. Tingles shivered down my spine. Must be Danny. I thought of Danny, of our baby. I pushed my eyes open. Danny's bloodshot eyes stared back at mine. I didn't even need to ask, and he answered.

"Emma was taken to a special unit for premature babies." Danny told me.

"Is she okay?" I croaked.

Danny didn't smile, "I don't know. The doctors have wired her up to all sorts of machinery…" His voice cracked, "They won't tell me anything- just that they're doing the best…" Danny smiled suddenly, "Alice, she's beautiful. Amazing. Alex was right, too, she's _a clone _of you. I swear."

I felt a stab of envy. Danny had seen our beautiful daughter, who I didn't even know was okay or not_. Oh it's okay, I'll just go through all that labour, don't worry about it, I don't want to see my kid!- _Is that the sort of people they treat in here? No way, I want to see my baby. Sleepily, I pushed myself up and swung my feet over the side of my bed.

"Alice- what're you-"

"I want to see her. I want to see Emma." I told him determinedly.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? You just woke up." Danny eyed me doubtfully.

"Yes, I think it's a great idea. Now- Lead the way?" I gave Danny the tone of voice that told him no arguing was allowed.

Danny sighed wearily and took my hand, holding it tightly. His grip became tighter and tighter as we walked down unfamiliar corridors of the hospital. Danny pulled me into a room, which in the centre was, I just knew, my little Emma. I ran to her, pressing my face against the glass box, an incubator by the looks of it, around her that kept me from picking her up.

She was… tiny.

Even with all the tubes and wires attached to her, which made her seem even smaller, she still looked beautiful. She was gorgeous. And Alex _was _right, she looked exactly like me- and that's not some backhanded way of telling you I think I'm beautiful- she had large, round blue eyes, the same dark shade as mine. She had tufts of dark brown hair sticking out of her scalp already, and she had the most peculiar expression on her face as she stared up at me. I smiled.

"Hey baby." I whispered hoarsely, "Hey little Emma."

She had cream coloured cheeks, that looked faintly flushed- Let's hope she doesn't inherit my blushing gene!- and she was panting slightly. I smiled again, well actually… the smile never left my face.

"I'm your mummy." I told her gently. Wishing I could cradle her in my arms and kiss her problems away.

Danny, as if sensing my wish to hold her, came to my side and opened a little hatch in the glass. "You're not allowed to pick her up, but you're allowed to reach in…" He told me.

I looked up, "Have you?"

"No," He answered, "I saw her first, and now I feel guilty about that you know, so I decided you should be the first to do it."

I smiled, "Thank you Danny." I whispered.

I put my hand through the small hole and stroked Emma's cheek. Her skin was smooth, soft. My hand rest on her chest for a while, ignoring the stupid wires around that area. I could feel the flutter of her tiny heart beneath my hand and her chest rising and falling every now and then. As she took gulps of new air.

"You're beautiful." I told her. I moved my hand to her tiny, pink one and she grabbed hold of my finger, as if thanking me, or greeting me. I felt rather shocked.

Danny smiled, I could feel it, "You both are."

I drew my hand slowly out of her incubator and shut the hatchet gently. I stared down at her with adoring eyes. I felt myself blushing, though I wasn't even thinking about the compliment. Only my baby.

"Mr and Mrs Trevanion?" A formal voice came from the doorway and I looked around and saw a doctor standing there.

"What's wrong with my baby?" I asked him straight away.

The doctor pushed his glasses up his nose and walked towards us, "Well, your daughters lungs aren't fully grown, a result of the premature birth. We did an X-Ray on them, too, to check that nothing was actually _wrong _with them, because she needed to be put on a mechanical ventilator, like most premature babies though. We found that she has more… sponge-like lungs, and they're scarred. We also spotted that she has much more respiratory distress. We've diagnosed her with bronchopulmonary dyspLasia-"

"In English?" I asked, not understanding the last two words he just said.

The doctor smiled, "Chronic lung disease, as you may know it." He told me, "She'll have more difficulty breathing than most other babies. Depending on how severe the case is, she may have to stay on oxygen for the most part of her first year."

My baby, needing help to breathe throughout her first year- when really all that we should have to worry about with a normal newborn is whether she's gonna sleep through the night without waking up! Why does this happen to my baby? "Will she be okay- When she grows up?" I asked.

The doctor thought about this for a moment, "It is a long-term disease, Mrs Trevanion-"

"Alice."

"Alice…She'll be much more at risk to respiratory infections and at some times she may have to be re-hospitalized. She'll have to be taking some medications when she leaves, such as bronchodilators, and sometimes those with quite a severe case go home 'on oxygen'. But we have all the equipment here to help. At the moment we're monitoring her breathing, we have had to put her on a mechanical ventilator. We don't know how long your daughter will have to stay on it though…"

I kept quiet this time. Danny spoke, "When can we take her home?" He asked quietly.

"Well… usually we don't allow premature babies to go home until their due date, until they're fully grown-"

"But that's two months away!" I cried- my baby. She shouldn't still be in hospital in two months time. She should be at Leopards Den, screaming, crying and annoying the hell out of everyone as a newborn. That's the way it's supposed to be! Suddenly a thought hit me, "I heard about… You know… She won't have any other like… _problems _will she?"

"Some premature babies can develop blindness, deafness, and learning disabilities."

Tears hit my eyes, "Why do we have to wait so long to take her home? Will that happen to her?"

The doctor stayed quiet this time. Me and Danny both caught on to this. Danny spoke, "Doctor?"

"Bronchopulmonary dysPLAsia can be, in mixture of how early a premature child is… fatal. Along with other complications, like problems with learning disabilites, or a lung infection, which your daughter is open to and we're using antibiotics to decrease this risk, it can happen… I'm sorry." He told me softly.

"So- So she's gonna die?" Danny stammered, as I was barely finding the thought to even breathe.

"We're doing everything we can so that she won't, might I add that everything else in her body is fully grown," His eyes flickered to Danny, "Maybe it's because of her fathers tall genetic gene?"

I smirked, "Freaking Eiffel tower he is."

The doctor smiled, "My point is that she shouldn't but we often have to prepare our patients for the worst…" He looked down at the ground, "I'll uh… leave you guys to it now."

"Thanks, Doctor." Danny said, as the doctor walked away. Then he turned to me. I felt a couple tears fall from my eyes and Danny wrapped his arms around me, I turned in them to look down at Emma.

Emma shouldn't be like this. She should still be in my stomach! She should still be growing into a healthy baby. She shouldn't have to face all this. Emma couldn't die. Not my baby. Was it something I'd done? Had I done something wrong in life? Had I done something wrong during the pregnancy? Was it the time that I'd jumped through Rosie's window? Was it the time Alex hit my stomach a little too hard when I told him about Emma kicking and he told her off for the first time? Was it the time I stumbled down the stairs, almost falling over? Was it me? Was I an unfit mother? Did God want to punish me?

"We should tell the others…" I mumbled, trying to shake away my thoughts. But I didn't want to leave.

Danny sensed this, he was amazing today, on top form. Maybe it's just because we were feeling the exact same emotions, too. He kissed my cheek and said, "It's okay, I'll go."

"Are you sure?"

"Someone needs to tell them." He said quietly, "I'll be as quick as I can." He told me, and squeezed my hands and started to walk away.

"Danny?"

"Yeah?" He turned back to me, I looked into his green eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you more." He whispered.

I smirked, "Impossible."

_Danny's POV. He's now back at Leopards Den. (This was originally gonna be a different chapter but I wanna try and get on yous good side after doing this to Danice!)_

I couldn't stop thinking about today's events. I'd been on my way back from the animal hospital, when Alex came out shouting about Alice. She'd looked so hurt, tears were running down her cheeks and I knew something was wrong. Her waters had broke. But it was too early! Two months freaking early!

They performed the emergency caesarean and Emma was whisked away to a special unit for premature babies. They hadn't let me see her at first, but then one of them came in, one of the doctors, while I was with Alice waiting for her to wake up from the operation, and told me where she was and that I was able to visit her. I had been sure that Alice wouldn't wake up for a while yet, so I'd gone to see my newborn daughter.

Alex was a psychic, I swear. It was as if fate had listened to him when he said he wanted a sister. Not only that, but Emma was the image of Alice too. She was beautiful. She stared up at me, panting for every breath, with massive blue eyes that were exactly the same as Alice's- the ones I'd fell in love with. God have mercy on any man who sees them eyes! She had dark brown hair like Alice's too, standing up in little tufts on the top of her forehead. Emma wore the same expression as Alice did whenever she was confused about something- the exact same one. She was literally a little Alice. I had grinned.

I thought of Alice's face when the doctor told her that there was a chance Emma could die. I was heartbroken- Emma, my newborn child. But when I looked to Alice there was a different kind of agony on her face. Her eyes weren't light up and she seemed empty, almost lost. I'd never seen her look that way before. Life seemed to be sucked out of her.

I drove up into Leopards Den and sighed- What was I going to do? I was trying to stay strong for Alice, I knew that if I didn't it wouldn't help. All I really wanted to do was cry for my daughter, the one who was dying of some words I didn't understand. But that wouldn't help Alice.

I climbed out of the jeep with a heavy heart. Charlotte ran out onto the veranda. I expected her to ask about Alice, but she was smiling and shouted, "Sam had a baby boy!"

My eyes widened and I gawked, "What?"

She grinned, "He's called Bryce! She had her baby today- just like mum! They're like twins but they're nephew and auntie… "

I smiled slightly. Oh my god, that was weird. My daughter and my grandson had both been born on the same day. My grandson late, but healthy, my daughter way too early, and her life in danger.

"Well uh, that's great!" I said in false enthusiasm. Even the brilliant news that I was now a granddad couldn't make me happy. Depression pulsed through my veins, seeping through every muscle of my body. What if little Emma died? What was I going to do?

"Dad?" Charlotte asked quietly, "What's wrong?"

"Come inside Charlotte." I murmured and walked inside Leopards Den. It was easy to find out where everyone was. I walked along in Leopards Den, my feet begrudgingly taking each stop, and followed Dupe's laugh. They were all in the front room. Dupe looked up at me, sat beside him was Caroline and Alex.

"Did Charlotte tell you? You're a granddad you old sod!" Dupe laughed, but stopped when he saw my face. "Danny?"

I ran a hand through my short hair and leaned back against the wall, my head dipping. I stared at the wooden floor.

"What're you doing here? Where's Alice? How's the baby?" Dupe demanded suddenly, and I looked up. He was standing up now, his expression confused. Caroline looked down at Alex worriedly. Alex stared at me with a wondering expression on his face, he didn't realise the worst that could happen. Finally, I looked at Charlotte. Tears were glittering her eyes but she wore the same stubborn defensiveness against the tears that Alice did. They both hated crying. Like mother like daughter.

I sighed, took a deep breath and said, "I came back here to tell you guys about Emma. Alice is back at the hospital with her now." I looked at Charlotte, "Alice is fine. She _should _be shattered, after the caesarean and all," I smirked, "But the first thing she did when she woke up was make me show her to Emma…" I trailed off and looked back down at the floor.

"Where's Emma? Can I see her? My little sissy?" Alex asked excitedly, running over to me. I picked him up and held him close to me.

"Little man, Emma can't come home at the moment." I told him, Charlotte, Dupe, and Caroline gasped.

"Why?" They all demanded at the same time.

I looked at the wall when I spoke, "She's too premature, they say they usually keep premature babies in till their due date but… I don't know if they're saying that."

"I'm sure that it's-" Caroline started.

"She has bronchopulmonary dyspLasia. A disease which premature babies can get. It means her lungs aren't developed properly or something, that she has trouble breathing on her own. She'll have to be on a mechanical ventilator for the most part of her first year or something…" I mumbled, and took another deep breath. I looked at Alex then I looked at Charlotte. They both stared at me, I knew Charlotte was scared, was Alex though? Did he understand a word I'd just said? He was only two, so he probably wouldn't. What if the worst happens, how are we supposed to explain that to him? "It can be fatal." I told them quietly.

Alex yawned in my arms, "What's that mean Daddy?"

I looked down at him, he was so innocent, I just couldn't tell him. "Nothing little man, nothing… don't worry…"

He shrugged, "Okay then." He said happily, and I set him down on the ground. He rushed over to his drawings, I caught sight of one on the sofa. Right where Alice had been sitting before.

I picked it up and studied it. There were five stick people. A lanky man, who was labelled as me. A short woman, who was labelled as Alice. A girl the size of Alice, who was labelled Charlotte. A mini me, who was labelled Alex. And a little girl, labelled Emma. They were all smiling in the picture. Nothing was wrong in this picture. If only.

Alex had been right before, about Emma being a girl, and looking exactly like Alice… Let's hope he'll be right when he thinks Emma's okay.

**A/N: Why'd I have to go and hurt Danice?: ( I'm evil- but PLEASE don't shoot me! XD**


	10. My fault

**Alice's POV**

**A/N: I was gonna update 'wherever you are', but I want to get this one finished soon and start my new one. (Decided on doing 'Can you fix me?' cause it got most votes XD) I've cut out most of the angst in this fic, since I felt mean because all my other fics seem to be depressive lol! There's gonna be one more chapter after this one, when originally there was gonna be about 5 more (see what cutting out angst does? Hehe)**

**Anyway, here goes.**

Every single breath of hers was a pant more than anything. Each breath I took for granted myself made me feel all the more guilty. Her heart fluttered like a hummingbirds at some points and then it was as normal as mine. Actually no, that makes her sound like I'm labelling her as something else, not normal. Well, she's not. She's special. My baby is amazing- nothing less.

I hovered uselessly by her side for hours, wondering what was taking Danny so long, wondering whether or not my baby would ever be fully okay. What if it did become fatal? What would I do then? I now fully had an inkling of how Rosie reacted the two times she'd lost her baby. I've nearly lost my Emma- what am I going to do?

"Hey." Danny's voice was soft, and he walked into room, as he wrapped his arms around me from behind, he kissed my cheek.

"Hey." I whispered, my voice hoarse, and suddenly feeling overwhelmingly tired. I did just have a caesarean, I ought to have been! The mother side of me had kept me awake and battling my exhaustion. Now I simply let the exhaustion overwhelm me, and leant back into Danny's arms, my eyelids fluttering close.

"C'mon, you're shattered Alice, you need to sleep."

"Emma…" I mumbled incoherently, and Danny sighed quietly.

"Alice, it's not against the law to sleep. You sleeping isn't gonna hurt her." He told me.

I was beyond shattered to argue with him. His words caused me to think a lot though, as he wrapped an arm around my waist and began to lead me back to the room. Was it my fault that Emma wasn't healthy, though? Did I really not deserve her? Did God seriously want to punish me that much?

"Danny?" I murmured as I laid back down.

"Yeah?"

"Why am I being punished?" I whispered, one lone tear escaping my eye.

"What do you mean?" Danny asked caringly, taking one of my hands, I opened my eyes and looked at him tearfully. Those light green eyes of his held comfort.

"Emma." I murmured. "It's all my fault."

Danny didn't reply, and that scared me, I expected Danny to argue that it wasn't when I perfectly knew well it was my fault. Unable to take the look of pain that swept across Danny's face, I closed my eyes. The tiny shred of remains of my heart peeled away from my chest and became lost as I realised that Danny blamed me. Surely he knew that I had tried, right? That I had tried to be a good mum to her? That I never, not in any way, wanted to hurt her? More than anything I had ever wanted I wanted my baby Emma to be okay. I wanted her to live her life and not die. Because it would all be fault- and I never meant any harm.

"Alice?" Danny murmured, but I was already too tired to even open my eyes again, they stayed solid shut, and refused to open. I guessed that Danny thought I was asleep. I didn't care- I didn't want to listen. I already knew that he was blaming me, too, that he thought it was all my fault, and I didn't want to hear it. Not from Danny. Danny sighed, "Maybe some sleep will do you good, love." He whispered, and I felt his own warm lips on my forehead.

"I doubt anything will." I whispered quietly.

Danny was silent for a while. "I will. I'll help you through this." I felt him take my hand. His smooth skin against mine sent a fizzing throughout my body- even after all these years. I squeezed his hand gently.

"I know, Danny… but it's all my fault."

Danny stayed silent. That stung, again, and a few fresh tears rolled down my cheeks. I felt Danny wipe them away, "No, it's not, it's mine."

My eyes snapped open, despite the fact I was literally dead on my feet, and I stared at Danny curiously. Even though I was physically shattered, I flew up so that I was sat straight and I gripped his face with my hands. I stared directly into his eyes when I spoke, "To hell it's your fault!" I snorted, "You can never do any wrong Danny- you're like a saint! You never hurt our baby!"

Danny dipped his head and I lost my hold on him. My eyelids drooped slightly but I forced them to stay open, for Danny. After all, he'd done so much for me, surely I could sit up and listen to what he had to say rather than simply fall to sleep- as much as the idea of sleep sounded like an amazing idea right now.

"You were right, about the age thing." Danny said softly, looking ashamedly at his feet.

"No I-"

"You _were _Alice. Don't you remember, after a couple scans they said they were looking out for signs of down syndrome?" He asked, and I nodded slowly, "All cause of my _age." _Danny suddenly jumped to his feet and began pacing, I watched him warily. Danny looked as if he was literally about to explode. "I've always had a problem with having kids you know." Danny looked up at me shyly as he paced, "Rosie was some form of miracle for me and Miranda. And as for Alex and Emma- well I've no bloody clue whatsoever as to how we're so lucky. Especially when I had trouble when I was young and healthy!" Danny sighed and began to pace more furiously, as if working off anger inside of him. "And- And then this whole thing with Rosie happens!" Danny said wearily, thrashing his arms uselessly by his side as he paced. I felt my eyes tear up, seeing Danny so hurt. "A-and it's all my fault that she's got It too- I dunno, I must've passed it on in genes or something!" Danny threw himself down in his chair, and he seemed a lot calmer after his vent, Danny rubbed a hand over his face. "Then all this stuff with Emma happens-"

I took his wrists, "Danny," I said softly, and he lifted his eyes to meet mine. My own blue ones met his green. "It's not your fault at all. Sure, you may have had a problem having children- but that doesn't mean that it's your fault Emma's…" I struggled for the right word, "Unhealthy."

"It doesn't?" Danny whispered, and a lone tear escaped his eyes.

"Not at all." I reassured him, and leant over and kissed that salty tear away.

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but with the mood I'm in, (exhausted and feeling like someone's taken a bat and whacked me around the head with it multiple times) I knew whatever I wrote would come out as garbage. **


	11. I could never imagine

**Alice's POV**

**A/N: Four months later**

Even though Emma's been home for a two months now, she still takes in every part of Leopards Den as if she's only just seen it, as if she's constantly gathering new information from the place. She's gonna be one smart kid when she's grown up. Her sapphire eyes roam hungrily around the area as I gently sit down with her in my arms on the veranda. Danny sits down beside me, slinging an arm around my shoulders. I smiled up at him. Everyone else takes their seats or places out on the veranda, and begin talking as usual. These are the moments that I love most from Leopards Den, when we're all together, all our problems forgotten, laughter echoing through the wild African landscape, the sun setting perfectly in the background, painting the sky a million different shades of orange.

Of course, it makes me sad to think that Liam isn't here. I count him as my family, he's my best friend. I've been talking to him regularly on the phone, keeping him updated with Emma's health. He's started up his travelling of the world again, after all, when he'd found me again he'd stopped and stayed in Africa, his home country, for a while. Two months ago, when I was still fussing over Emma and wondering if she was going to make it through the night, I realised life was too short and you shouldn't have to wait to do anything. I'd encouraged Liam to continue on with his travels, that he'd promised his sister he'd do on her deathbed, and that he shouldn't have to stay here and look after my sorry ass. After all, I had Danny. And he'd helped me through all of this.

Emma had grown at a miracle rate, her lungs had caught up to speed too, they were fully grown, and the doctors had been amazed. She'd been able to breathe on her own by the time that she was going to be allowed home- a recovery. She hadn't needed to go home 'on oxygen'. Nothing. Not what we'd prepared for. We'd been prepared for the worst. Waiting for the moment that the flutter of her heart stopped and her lungs took her last breath. But that had never come, and relief filled through my body even now. Emma was a fighter. Danny would always say that she's like me, being a fighter. But I knew that wasn't true. I hadn't been able to get through this on my own. Danny had been there for me, and I know that he'd been in pain through all of it too, and in exchange I'd been there for him. We'd comforted each other when we were at our lowest- and now our whole family was stronger than ever.

My eyes flickered over to Sam, Evan and Bryce. They'd flown over last month, once Bryce was old enough to fly. Olivia had come too, and now we were all one big family. I gave Sam a big encouraging smile. Sam had once confessed to me that she felt that she was going to make a terrible mother, that she knew she was 'a ditz' as she put it, and she didn't know if she was up to the responsibility. I had no idea how she had made the assumption about herself, I'd seen her with Bryce, and everything seemed to come naturally to her with parenting. Even with my third kid, I'd sometimes have to ask for her help. She was a natural born mother.

I smiled fondly at Bryce, who was in Sam's arms. He had her dark, brown orbs for eyes. They were amazing. He also had her pale complexion, and Sam would always have to lather him up in sun block everyday, he burned so easily. But he had Evan's shaped face, his nose, and his dark hair. Bryce was born was a full head of hair, and now it was long enough to flop over his eyes in a cute fashion. He was beautiful, just like my little Emma.

Bryce and Emma were born on the same day, I'd found this out through Danny, who had suddenly realised he hadn't told me about the birth of our first grandchild, two days after he'd been told. It was really odd, and freakishly coincidental, if you think about it. My daughter and my grandson were born on the same day, I wondered how they were going to explain _that _when they get older. 'Oh yeah, I'm Emma, and this is Bryce. We're both exactly the same age, but we're not twins- I'm his aunt'. I bit back my laugh and disguised it as a smile when Sam raised an eyebrow at me, brushing back a stand of her loose orange hair that had flopped in front of her eyes, her stunning engagement ring glinting in the sunlight.

Evan had finally plucked up the courage to ask for her hand in marriage the first day they'd come back over here. Sam's eyes had gone all dreamy-eyed and she'd looked absolutely speechless. Despite the fact that she'd had a child with him and they lived together, I don't think she'd expected that from Evan. Sam had almost fainted, and I'd just managed to catch her just in time, before she'd hit the ground, and told Evan that was her way of saying yes. Sam had grinned at Evan and then he'd slipped the engagement ring onto her finger, and she'd jumped out of my arms and flung her arms around him, kissing him so passionately it made my cheeks burn and I felt like I was invading their privacy.

It felt odd, once I thought about it. I remembered back to when I'd first come here, Charlotte had only been nine and I'd been running from my past. Evan had only been a teenager, and technically he still was, and I could never have imagined him where he was today. I could never imagine Charlotte being the age she was today, almost out of school too. I could never imagine Rosie and Max having to go through all the ordeal of children, but they've got through it all. I could never imagine me and Danny having Alex, I couldn't even imagine us getting together in the first place. I couldn't imagine having Emma, and having to get through the ordeal of the fact she might die. I couldn't even imagine us married, even when we were together. I couldn't imagine Olivia accepting me and Danny, when she hadn't, but she had. I couldn't imagine Olivia being engaged, either. But she was- to Thabo. Which was sweet. I couldn't imagine still being at Leopards Den, I'd only came here for the one job, but I'd stayed and fallen in love with Danny. Basically, I couldn't imagine being where I was today.

But I was here, I had been through a heck of a lot to get here, and getting through it all had been hard, but I'd Danny by my side every single step of the way.

I looked around the veranda. Dupe and Caroline stood engaged in a chat of some sort, Caroline was probably nagging his ear off, but that was just the way they were. Nomsa watched them from behind, chuckling to herself. Rosie and Max were talking to Olivia and Thabo, all of them wore smiles on their faces, even though there was nothing in particular that we needed to smile about. Sam and Evan sat with baby Bryce, and Charlotte came out to the veranda and plonked herself down next to Sam. Sam and Charlotte had become incredibly close. Sam smiled up at Charlotte and passed Bryce to her. Charlotte was an incredible aunty, and gazed down at Bryce with warm eyes.

Then there was me, Danny, Emma and Alex. Alex was obsessed with Emma, his little sister. He was the best big brother any girl could _ever _ask for. He simply adored Emma. Alex sat down on Danny's lap now, and reached over and tickled under Emma's chin, smiling to himself. Me and Danny looked at each other and smiled.

"God, I can't imagine how amazing it must be to be a mother." Charlotte murmured to Sam, and I heard.

"And you wont know until you're married, got a decent job, and 42!" Me and Danny both said simultaneously. Charlotte rolled her eyes and smiled, she was used to our protectiveness of her. It was weird to think that maybe, in about five years time, she could be a mother herself. But Charlotte would always be my little baby to me, the one who had got me through the hardest times of my life, literally. Ever since she'd been born I'd put more effort into life, because suddenly it wasn't just me who I needed to look after. It was because of Charlotte that I had wound up at Leopards Den, fallen in love with Danny, and was where I was today. For if she hadn't been born, I would've been stuck back in drizzly Scotland.

Me and Danny caught each others eyes and laughed with one another. My heart skipped a couple beats at the sound of Danny's laughter. Everyone else joined in the laughter too, and I couldn't help but realise how lucky I was to be here.

Life is perfect.

**A/N: I wonder if I can do a sequel to this, because I simply adore the relationship between Sam and Evan that I have in my head! I've come up with a couple ideas… but it wont be up for a while because I'm so determined to concentrate on a couple other fics! The ideas in my head are so different to how Obvious started, which is the main root of all of this! **

**Gah, I'm babbling, and you probably don't understand a word I'm saying! Sorry!**

**Please review, and let me know what you thought of this final chapter! **

_**Ellie(: **_


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